8.28.2009

After asking my husband for the hundredth no thousandth OK millionth time to put Miss Madison's highchair together, I just did it myself. It's so cute! It's now official~ I don't need a man. I really only keep him around to do chores like this anyways.

8.27.2009

I am in love again with chocolate cake! Or maybe I should say it's back in love with me. I found a ww friendly recipe here, but made a change to the toppings. Instead of just cool whip I added in softened light cream cheese and 2 packets of splenda. I DIED! (Yes, I just finished watching Rachel Zoe.) I used the moist deluxe mix. I couldn't believe how good it was! I made the mistake of making it at my mom's house and then Dad came home and ate it all. Sad.

Here is Miss Madison today at the mall. She was so happy because I let her wear her new outfit even though she hasn't poo'd in a day or two. Good news is she held it in until we got home and the outfit is still good to go!! I never thought I would be dressing my daughter around her poop schedule.

8.26.2009

Today was good~ had lunch with a friend who just had a baby. Elena is only 7 weeks old and so small. I was sad remembering Miss Madi being that small not too long ago. I ran 2 miles at the gym and lost another LB at WW. Woot Woot!!

Now I'm off to reward myself with a nice big bowl of Chocolate....LOWFAT.....ice cream!Yummmmmmm

8.24.2009

I now know why they used to put whiskey on babies gums while teething. When it's 3am and they have been up EVERY. SINGLE. HOUR. you would do anything to get them to sleep. I tried teething tablets, Tylenol, and baby Orajel. Finally I just took her to bed with me and gave her my boob. Can't cry with that in your mouth!

8.22.2009

Babies are expensive. Toys for babies are so outrageous that even I am amazed. This spoken from a spoiled little princess who never does without~ according to my hubs. My new role as a stay-at-home Mom, a.k.a living on one income, has driven me to cut coupons and shop on a budget. It's really not as depressing as I thought it would be. I feel proud when I get something for a great deal or buy groceries on a dime.

I wouldn't say that I'm great at saving money yet, but I do think about what I spend more now than I did before. For example while we were shopping in Plano yesterday we had lunch at this great tearoom that also carries some OMG cute baby items. There was this beautiful brown hat with ribbons and flowers that looked fabulous on Miss Madi, but it was......$27 dollars! For a hat! Come on, I wouldn't even spend that on a hat for me! So back on the shelf it went. Such will power.

Yesterday was the Divine Consign event in Plano and we decided to check it out. Honestly Miss Madison probably doesn't really NEED anything, but I wanted to see what kind of deals they had. I was happily surprised, they had some good stuff there. I picked up some warm clothing for our trip to Colorado, some toys for Grandma's house, and this AWESOME mobile for her crib! I will definitely be going again next year and I will never pay full price for baby stuff again.

8.20.2009

I have heard that after having a baby couples lose the ability to talk about anything else. Baby this and baby that. For me this is not the case. I have been blessed with a husband who is entertaining to say the least. Usually it's after a few beers, but the other night was an exception.

Miss Madison went to bed in her own crib (yay!) and we retired to our bedroom to watch some tv (no really) and sleep. Hubs is doing his nightly routine, which is wayyyy longer than mine, and starts to tell me a story about his day. Now usually it's borrrring and I have a hard time following what he is telling me because honestly I have NO clue what he does. I do the smile and nod, but this time was different.

He's telling me about his co-workers bathroom habits. For real. One guy pulls up his shirt to his man boobies when he goes. (Hubs was kind enough to act this all out for me for emphasis) Another guy is so large he, according to my hubby, can't reach it and sits down to go. One guy is a "talker" and likes to trap someone in a conversation at the urinal and last but not least is the shy guy who can't go if someone is beside him. He pretends to go and does the whole 'shake off', but it's apparent he didn't because you can hear it. So now we all know the bathroom habits of my hubby's co-workers. Maybe we should read a book together and discuss it at bedtime......

8.19.2009

Yummy! Wednesday's are good days. Miss Madison goes to stay with Oma and Opa.

I go to weight watchers with my Mom. I lost again today! I'm now done 16.2 pounds. Whew! Also my father-in-law (Opa) makes me some of his wonderfully delicous food. I love this because 1) I don't have to cook and 2) it's always something I would never be able to make. I should take Miss Madi over everyday just to get some more good food!!! On a sad note, my ice cream sucks. Bad. Never buy ice cream with 5 grams of fiber in it. It's just unnatural.

Last night before I went to bed I took the baby monitor into my husbands office (where he was busy playing his STUPID GAME) and said "I'm going to bed. Your on baby duty. If she wakes up feed her". I'm sleeping and he comes in the room and lay's Miss Madi on the bed and attaches her to my boob.NOT what I meant. Ugh.

8.14.2009

I'll admit it. I watch WAY too much TV. I blame Miss Madison~ I spent hours and hours sitting on my butt watching TV while nursing. I have seriously seen every episode of every decent sitcom out there. I heart reality TV. Helllllloooo Housewives! I love them all Atlanta, Orange County, New Jersey, and what about Dallas! We are the home of hot women and big hair we need our own show!

This one is a new show and sure to be on my DVR every week. Police Women of Broward County. I (and Oliver!) love to watch dumb criminals getting chased and tasered. I really can't explain it, but it's really very entertaining.

8.13.2009

Mom's Night Out was soooo much fun! I had this REALLY yummy Margarita~ Pomegranate and Sage. Apparently sage brings out the flavor of the tequila and pomegranate sweetens it. This is my new favorite drink!

I think it's awesome to be able to get together with other women whom you don't know and be able to have a great time. Maybe because we are all Mom's and we are suffering though the same crap that we can bond. I definitely do NOT miss the days when I was young and girls were catty and mean! It's not a competition it's just relaxing and fun. Usually when I agree ahead of time to do something like this I dread it. I'm tired or don't feel like going. Yesterday I was tired and I hadn't showered, but I was looking forward to it anyways. I didn't even let the fact that NONE of my cute shirts fit over my huge boobies bother me!! Now that is progress. I am looking forward to next time for sure.

8.12.2009

I am part of a Mommy group here in Plano. We get together and walk the mall a couple times a week. I really enjoy it, the mom's are great and the babies are adorable! We have decided to expand to Mommy Night Out~ Daddys watch the babies and the Mommys get to go out and have drinks!! Look how cute they are all together!

8.11.2009

Dear Miss Madison,Mommy loves you, but please stop using my boobies as a pacifier. Mommy bought you a cute lamb one- use it!

You did it for Daddy~

Remember all the cute hats~

and bows~

I buy for you and forgive me when I kick you out of my bed. Mommy rescued you last night and slept in the guest room for YOU! You still were unhappy and kicked and cried all night. Mommy is tired and sore. I love you, but NO MORE.

8.10.2009

So in my early twenties I learned that everything my Mother ever tried to teach me was true. When I was a teenager I thought she just didn't understand. My Mom had a entirely different life than me. She was married at 18 and had 4 children by the time she was 23. How could she possibly relate to me??

It must be something you are just given...the ability to relate to your children. Now that I am armed with this revelation, when she told me that Motherhood is full of guilty feelings I took heed.

I got my first taste of this the other day. My poor daughter!! I'm such a bad Mom!! We have been sleep training for 2 days now and I already have seen so much that I have been doing wrong. Madi took 5 naps yesterday! 5! She has only been getting 2 maybe 3 before now. I had NO clue she needed a nap every hour and 20 minutes. She cried for a TOTAL of 10 minutes yesterday going down for naps. I have been putting her to bed around 830pm and she really need to go to bed at 630! No wonder she is so darn cranky all the time. I thought it was her only to find out it was me! Guilt.

I am not going to get my hopes up that it will be this easy everyday, but I think I am starting to understand my baby more. I waited to put her down when she was looking tired (fussing, rubbing her eyes, and yawning), but I came to find out it was too late by that time. I put her down BEFORE, all this happens and she falls asleep with little or no crying. Who knew! She doesn't even look tired when I lay her down, but it works.

8.09.2009

So after MUCH research and reading I have decided to start sleep training Miss Madi. I am starting with her naps and when we master that I will move to night training. I am doing Cry-it-out with checks and pickup and put downs. What this means is if she cries I check on her every few minutes and shhhh her and every few times I pick her up and put her back down.

I was hesitant to do this because I didn't want to seem 'mean', but the funny thing is Madi has been a MUCH happier baby even after 1 day! Oh sure she SCREAMED, but as soon as she is picked up she stops and then SMILES. So I know she is just fine. We tried for 3 naps yesterday and she cried during all of them. I check in for an hour each time. After the hour I take her out and we eat and play.

In between her naps she is so content and happy to play on her own. She didn't cry to be held 90% of the time like she ususally does. For bedtime I bathed her and moved the glider from the living room to her room. I nursed her and swaddled her and turned on her Rainforset Machine and she fell asleep no crying at all. When she did wake up I took her to bed with me, but at least she did fall asleep on her own in her own crib.

My next goal is to find the "sweet spot", the time when she starts to get sleepy, but before she is too tired. I think for her it is about an hour and 15 minutes after she wakes up. This tough love is hard! It's hard to hear your baby cry, but I'm not just ignoring her and this will help the entire family.

8.07.2009

So the co-sleeping has to come to an end. I'm sore and tired and really miss my side of the bed. Miss Madison wanted to eat all night last night (probably because she took the biggest poo before bedtime- it was everywhere!) and I was up most of the night. She really hates her crib so this is going to be tough on me. Pretty sure it won't be so tough for Oliver!

I really am confused what 'method' I should use because so many people have different opinions on what works. I'm quite sure she is not ready for Cry-it-out so we will try some other things before resorting to that. I'm determined to get this over with and it's my own fault for co-sleeping in the first place. I just wanted to SLEEP! Can you really blame me???